Three current students and an alumnus of the K-Arts have won in the 2023 International Tchaikovsky Competition including the first prize and gold in Voice on 29 June in Moscow.

Tenor Son Jihoon, a graduate of the Department of Vocal Music, was named the first prize winner of the Voice (male) category. Son is a Laureate of the Montserrat Caballé International Singers Competition (Madrid, 2022, 1st prize), the Giovan Battista Viotti International Music Competition (Vercelli, Italy, 2022, 1st prize and Audience Award), the Éva Marton International Vocalists Competition (Budapest, 2022, 3rd prize and special prize), etc.

In the category of cello, current student Park Sanghyeok and Lee Dongyeol received the third prize and the fifth prize, respectively. Both had finished the course in the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts (KNIGA), an art-prodigy nursery affiliated to the K-Arts, and now are studying with Prof. Lee Kangho in the K-Arts School of Music.

Kim Ye Sung, a flute student pursuing an Artist Diploma (3-year-long graduate program) with Prof. Lee Yerin, achieved the third prize in woodwinds.

Founded in 1958 in Russia, the Tchaikovsky International Competition is held once every four years and features six categories in piano, violin, cello, voice, woodwinds, and brass, which musicians aged between 16 and 32 years of age can enter. The competition is considered one of the most respected careers for classical musicians.